Nepal-based theft gang used domestic workers to target luxury villas, police say

According to the Cyberabad police, who are investigating the recent break-in at Hill Ridge Villas in Gachibowli, a gang of thieves based in Nepal used domestic workers stationed at the luxury villas to gather information about the residents’ movements before carrying out the thefts.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner M. Ramesh said the gang primarily targeted wealthy families living in posh gated communities. The key accused, identified as Suresh alias Suraj, recruited individuals from Nepal and placed them as domestic workers in expensive villas and houses across Hyderabad. Information about unoccupied houses was used to plan and carry out thefts.

The case came to light after the elderly couple returned to their villa on June 7 and noticed that the gold chain adorning the idol was missing. A day later, their son opened a cupboard in the house and found that the gold ornaments and over 1.3 kg of silver items were gone.

After an intensive investigation involving several teams in several states, the Cyberabad police traced the suspects to Uttar Pradesh. The three accused, identified as Kamal Shahi, Vimla Shahi and Kalpana Shahi, all natives of Nepal, have been arrested in Rampur district while Suresh is absconding.

The police recovered the entire stolen property, including around 7.84 kg of gold ornaments, 1.36 kg of silver articles, ₹33,170 in cash and two mobile phones.

Further investigations are underway to locate the suspect on the run.

Mr. Ramesh announced rewards for the officers involved in solving the case and recovering the stolen property.

Published – 11 Jun 2026 22:55 IST